To Love Again
by tessalynne
Summary: This is my ongoing Cole and Piper series. Finally combined and now freshly updated with Leo's Point of View
1. Part 1 Heaven or Hell

**Charmed**

**Title:To Love Again**

**Author:Teri Thibeault AKA Tessalynne**

**Pairing:Cole/Piper**

**Rating:K/ T, YT / T - Mild Language and Adult/Sexual Situations**

**Disclaimer:**"Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for any characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

**Author's Notes:**This series began as a single POV piece and took on a life of it's own from there. It was inspired by an opening line requirement for a writing contest. As the pairing indicates, it is AU and though it follows no particular timeline there are a couple of things to note. Leo is an Elder, Cole retains his powers as Belthazor and never became the Source, Wyatt was never born and Phoebe works at the Bay Mirror with Jason Dean. For those who have followed this story from its beginning, all the individual segments are now combined into this single work. (No more backtracking to find the previous piece) While it saddened me to lose all your inspiring reviews, it seemed fairer to the reader to combine the pieces into a single story. The chapters retain the titles of the original individual pieces.

**Part 1 - Heaven or Hell**

Hell had found him. There had never been any question that it would happen, over a century of demonic activity had more than guaranteed that it would come to pass. But, as was often the case with any long anticipated event, it was the form it took that was surprising. These were Cole Turner's first thoughts as he watched Piper climb the stairs.

Cole turned away from the stairs with a sigh and sat down heavily on the sofa. _How the hell had this happened?_ The merrily twinkling Christmas lights mocked his troubled thoughts and drew his eyes to the seemingly harmless sprig of mistletoe. That damned little plant had started all kinds of trouble tonight. No, that wasn't true. If he were going to be brutally honest with himself, Cole would have to admit that the trouble had started long before tonight. He just needed to sort out how things had come to this point.

It had been almost three years since the Triad had sent him to destroy the Charmed Ones. Three years since the mighty Belthazor's failure, a failure so spectacular it would long hold a place of dishonor in demonic history. Cole laughed aloud in the dimly lit room. He had thrown away the only life he had ever known with that failure traded it all for the love of a witch and a sense of family that he had never known. It was one of the universe's great ironies to now realize that you can be naïve at any age.

He had believed that what he and Phoebe had was true love. Believed in it strongly enough to betray, to live on the run, to fight all the odds, and to change. All of this for a lovely illusion. Everything had seemed so right at the time, so wonderful. That was before Jason Dean.

Cole smiled to himself ruefully. Jason Dean, the man his wife was sleeping with. His name didn't even inspire anger any more. He'd known about the affair for months. At first he had been livid, every instinct had screamed for him to kill the bastard. But he hadn't done it, he'd done nothing, he'd said nothing and he'd stayed. It was while lying in bed reflecting on why he didn't just leave that several truths began to dawn on him.

It hadn't been real love for either of them. For Phoebe it seemed that it had been the thrill and danger of the forbidden, when that had disappeared after their marriage so had her interest in her husband. She hadn't calmed down after New York as much as everyone had believed. As for himself, Cole had been forced to acknowledge that he had suffered a severe case of puppy love at a rather advanced age. Intense, a bit obsessive, based on genuine affection, but doomed to be short lived. Yet, it was because of this he had found something that was important to him, a home and a family, peace, and a sense of belonging that he wasn't willing to give up. So he stayed. With his silence he protected Phoebe from the open disapproval of her sisters, though everyone knew what was going on and he protected the life that had become so important to him. It had seemed a harmless enough trade off.

"You would think that if I've learned anything, it would be that nothing around here is ever harmless", Cole said to his silent audience of holiday decorations. He glanced at the grandfather clock and was surprised to find that it had only been ten minutes since Piper had gone upstairs. It was amazing how quickly thoughts could race through the mind sometimes. Piper... _It was different for her_. Cole knew there were some similarities from stories he'd heard, but he still believed the differences outweighed them as he drifted into thought again. Piper and Leo had overcome a lot of the barriers to their being together by the time Cole had entered their lives, but the tales of the Elder's interference in their love life were legendary in the Halliwell household. When she and Leo had married Cole had been certain they were destined for great happiness together. Now here he sat reflecting on the disintegration of their relationship.

It had been so gradual, starting with little things that were so easy to miss. Piper's constant craving for at least the appearance of a normal life, Leo's belief that Piper didn't understand the importance of his work, and Prue's death, admittedly not a small thing, had all been weathered as well as any couple had a right to expect. Cole believed that discovering that they couldn't have children had been more strain than they could handle. It had seemed to drain the magic from their relationship. The arguments had become loud and bitter, usually centering on Leo never being around. And to be honest, Cole had to admit that he had long suspected that Leo stayed away at times even when it wasn't really necessary. Cole shook his head at that thought. In trying to avoid having arguments with Piper, Leo had actually fueled them. The real end though had come a few months ago, when Leo had become an Elder. Technically, Cole supposed, they were still married, but Piper had no fight left and Leo was never around. Thankfully, demon activity had been low.

So there they all were, a houseful of people trying to get what they needed from life. Leo was gone, Phoebe was always out for long stretches of time 'working', and Paige was just young and on the move looking for her direction in life. Cole realized now that that is when things started to change.

There hadn't been anything conscious about it; it was more like a natural slide toward balance. The houseful of people became him and Piper. She cooked a family meal and he made sure he was at the table to eat it. He'd be running late for work and mess up his tie, she'd laugh and help him straighten it. When she needed help to set up or decorate P3, he was there. They had decorated the house for so many holidays together that it was rapidly becoming a tradition. They laughed together, they talked, and they spent peaceful evenings doing nothing in particular when work and life allowed that luxury. They took care of one another. Piper nurtured his humanity; she took the time to introduce him to all the things in life that he had never experienced. In return, he gave her someone to depend on, he didn't treat her like her only purpose in life was to take care of the house and the club and mediate her sister's arguments. He didn't ignore her as though she were a comfortable old piece of furniture and he got damned angry that the others seemed to do just that. Somewhere in time Cole realized that he had come to appreciate the beauty that was uniquely Piper. Less blatantly physical a beauty than that of her sisters and all the more alluring because it shone from somewhere deep inside her. And tonight... Tonight a tiny sprig of mistletoe and tradition had conspired to take his body someplace his mind had already discovered. With a smile and a glance at the clock, Cole allowed his mind to replay the scene that had left him sitting there with his thoughts.

"Cole, we have to. It's mistletoe and it's tradition."

" What do you mean we have to?"

" Come on, it's only a kiss," she cajoled. " If we don't use the poor lonely thing, it probably won't get used at all. You're not afraid of one little kiss, are you?"

"Wouldn't be much of a demon if a kiss scared me." He laughed, then hesitated. " I'm just not sure this is a good idea."

Piper's face fell, her thoughts clearly visible before she tacked on her holiday smile. " I guess this is just one tradition you'll miss out on," she said with false brightness.

" Piper, it's not what you're thinking, I want to kiss you," Cole said softly.

"Then why won't you?"

The plaintive quality of her question could not be borne and Cole found himself moving toward her, even as every instinct demanded he stop. He knew they were lost the moment he touched her. The kiss began simply enough, a light brushing of lips to lips. If only it had stopped there. The seconds began to lengthen to a minute; the space between their body's evaporated as they slid completely into one another's arms. Lips were joined by heatedly exploring tongues and wandering hands. Drawing a breath became a supreme effort. As Piper's hands wandered to the buttons on his shirt, Cole summoned the shredded remains of his will and catching her hands in his, broke the kiss with a gasp.

"Piper, we have to stop. We have to stop now or I won't be stopping at all. It can't be like this, it can't just be some accident, something that just got out of control." At her soft sound of protest, he drew a shaky breath and continued. "No, let me finish, please. I've survived a lot in my life, but the one thing that I know I can't survive is you looking at me and thinking oh my God, what have I done and who have I done it with. That would kill me," he finished softly.

Piper stared at him at his final words then, drawing a deep breath, she began to speak.

"We aren't children Cole. I know all the reasons this is wrong, probably better than you do. But I can't seem to make myself care about any of that. I'm sure of what I want. If you want to think about it, that is fair. I'm going upstairs, if you aren't there in half an hour, we'll both just have to do our best to forget this ever happened."

The grandfather clock struck midnight, ushering in Christmas with its chimes and Cole rose to turn off the lights on the tree. He didn't need another five minutes of thought. People would be angry and even hurt to some degree when they found out. He had no doubt that they would find out either; this was not a one-time fling. But in this house hard times came and went and he knew they would get through this too.

Yes, Hell had found him. It didn't take the form of fire and brimstone, but rather that of a petite brunette in whose arms he had no right to be. And if this were hell, then perhaps he'd pass on heaven.


	2. Part 2 Ready or Not

**Part 2 - Ready or Not**

_I wasn't ready_. The thought drifted through Piper's mind like a summer breeze gently ruffling a curtain on a still day. From her seat at the vanity her eyes followed the moonlight streaming through her window. Tracing its path to the rumpled bed she had so recently left and the man who still slept there. The corner of her mouth lifted in a mischievous smile; she could wake him, though in truth he could probably use a little more sleep. _No._ Her thoughts were company enough for the time being.

It wasn't guilt that had awakened her but, rather, it's absence that now weighed on her mind. Piper picked up her hairbrush and glanced again at the bed. Tousled dark curls resting against the snowy pillowcase, the sheet twisted at his hips revealing a wide expanse of broad, well-muscled chest; he looked so peaceful. "Beautiful," she breathed. And still the guilt wouldn't come.

She began brushing her hair distractedly. Last night and tonight had been coming for so long that right and wrong no longer seemed a factor. Piper knew she hadn't set out to fall in love with him. But she also knew the moment she had goaded him about the mistletoe that she had forever crossed an invisible boundary. She'd spent the longest half-hour of her life waiting to see if he would cross that line with her. That he had still held a dream-like quality to her.

If she needed something to blame, she supposed that she could fault pity. It was pity that colored her first conscious emotion toward Cole. It had swelled within her as she watched his face the first time Phoebe had returned from Jason's without even the pretense of an excuse. She'd seen the rage and pain he held so carefully in check, and her heart had bled as she imagined his was doing. Piper had come closer to hating her sister in that moment than she ever wished to again. But as Cole's pain had shifted to resignation she found some small understanding for her sister. Perhaps they should have listened to her doubts about being ready for marriage. And Piper had had her own problems to deal with.

She and Leo had gone from soul mates to something less than meant to be. The arguments had occasionally been bitter, but the journey itself a sadly quiet transition. They had built a wall of silence between themselves a brick at a time. When he had gone off in the service of his 'greater good' to become an Elder, Piper had watched him go with something akin to relief. She wondered, as she replaced the hairbrush, if Cole had pitied her as well.

He stirred in his sleep, drawing Piper's attention to the bed again. _He's getting restless._ That thought brought another small smile. It was one of the reasons love had eventually been born of pity. It actually mattered whether she was there.

As they had spent an increasing amount of time in one another's company it became apparent that he didn't see her needs or desires as an imposition. He didn't accommodate her demands; he enjoyed her company. They valued the same things in life. He heard her when she spoke and talked to her, not at her. For her part, Piper grew to cherish each moment they spent together. Cole saw much of the world with the simplicity of a child. Every new experience was an adventure for him. His joy and excitement were often contagious.

"Just like an oversized kid," she laughed quietly to the listening moon.

She shook her head as she remembered the Christmas shopping trip. Two weeks until the big day and she had dragged him to a packed mall. She had been flabbergasted that he had never been Christmas shopping. He had been appalled by the crush.

"My God, doesn't anyone do this ahead of time?" he'd asked in a horrified whisper.

"It'll be okay. I'll protect the big, bad demon from the Christmas shoppers," she'd told him with a laugh and a pat on the arm.

A low growl had been his only response, but he had soon been caught up in the good cheer. Smiling at the children waiting to see Santa, wide eyed with wonder at the store displays. He'd happily followed her from store to store and had even briefly wandered off on his own. The end of the day had found them both smiling and tired, with yet another memory to be wrapped in tissue paper like a secret treasure. So if this was wrong, Piper didn't want to feel right anymore.

It wasn't that she didn't care that others were going to be hurt. She did. But she was so tired of caring more about everyone else's happiness than she did her own. This time she wanted to be happy. She didn't want to be responsible while everyone else got to play. Funny, it had taken this to help her understand how Prue had felt when she and Leo had married. _Prue. Just one of the things that had been sacrificed for the sake of what was right._ Piper sighed.

"Well, not this time," Piper whispered with resolve.

Being with Cole made her happy and it made him happy. If their happiness would mean that things got a bit messy or complicated when the others found out... Well, they'd sort it out then. Then would probably be the near future as things were. This was the second night he had spent in her bed. And any more gifts like her surprise Christmas present weren't likely to go unnoticed.

Piper reached out and ran her finger lightly along the silver trimmed scalloped edge of the base. A pool of glitter snow surrounded two doves encased in a glass heart. The ivory porcelain base was adorned with fragile pale pink roses. She had admired the musical water globe on their shopping trip. But she had never dreamed of owning it. He'd been so cute when he had discreetly slid the box into her gift pile that morning.

Piper gazed at the box curiously.

"What's this?" she asked quietly.

" A Christmas present silly, you did drag me to the mall to go Christmas shopping didn't you?"

Piper smiled. "So what is it?"

"Well, you have to open it to find out. I'm not telling you what it is," he grinned secretively.

"Devil."

"Not exactly."

Piper waited until she was sure her sister's were engrossed in their own gifts before she reached for the box. She peeled the paper away carefully, opened the lid and lifted the tissue paper from inside. Her eyes widened and her heart stilled in her chest when she saw the globe. She raised tear filled eyes to look at Cole, her lips quavered under the force of the contained emotion.

" Hey," His soft voice conveyed his concern. " I thought you liked it."

"It's beautiful," she cast a sidelong glance at Phoebe and Paige to be certain the exchange hadn't been observed. "Thank you," she whispered with a squeeze to his hand.

Cole's worried expression melted into a smile brighter than all the Christmas lights in the room.

The memory alone caused Piper's eyes to tear up again. She lifted the globe gently from the vanity top, tilted it and wound the mechanism. She set it down; a glitter snowfall swirled around the doves as the lilting strains of Cavallaro's 'To Love Again' filled the quiet night.

"Piper," Cole mumbled from the bed.

Rising, she returned to bed, slipping between the sheets and into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she smiled and ran her fingers along his jaw.

"It's alright," he drew her closer and dropped a kiss on her forehead " are you okay?"

Piper snuggled closer still; "I'm fine."

Laying her head on his shoulder, Piper realized that she might not have been ready, but love had found her, ready or not.


	3. Part 3 The Things I Know

**Part 3 - The Things I Know**

_There wasn't enough time._

Paige pulled the bedroom door closed as silently as she had eased it open and scurried toward her own room. That single thought pursuing her more effectively than any demon had so far managed to do. She slipped into her room breathlessly, letting the door click shut behind her as though it could somehow shut out this new knowledge. There were some things that a person just didn't need to know, didn't want to know. There was something she had heard once that seemed to fit the situation perfectly. _There are some things that happen in life that you can never unsee._ This was one of those things.

Drawing a shaky breath, Paige sat quietly on the edge of her bed trying to sort through the turmoil she felt. Needing to bring order to the chaos before she had to face either of them. She wasn't even sure it would be possible to do so. Especially when she found herself having to suppress a ridiculous urge to giggle as the line of a Don Henley song found its way into her thoughts. _'This is the end of the innocence.'_

"Get a grip Paige, this isn't funny," she admonished herself aloud. As though the sound of her own voice might somehow chase away the foreboding and disaster she felt looming on the horizon.

She hadn't been spying. Hadn't even realized there was anything to spy on. She had been wrapped up in her own life for several months now. She spent most of her time moving from one temp job to another and trying to have a social life in addition to dodging demons every other day. Adjusting to her life as a witch and the discovery that she was now one of three sisters had kept her busy enough when it came to family matters. And it was realizing that that had put her at Piper's door this morning.

The day after Christmas, Boxing Day as it was known in certain parts of the world. One of the best shopping sale days of the year. Paige had decided that is was the perfect time for a bit of sisterly bonding and had planned a shopping trip with Piper since Phoebe already had plans. Paige shook her head, obviously Phoebe's plans had their own little role to play in what was currently plaguing her. She'd decided to start the day early by waking Piper and just hanging out together over breakfast. _Bad Idea, Paige._

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Padding silently down the hall, she had eased Piper's door open quietly to avoid startling her awake. After all, surprising someone could be a very bad idea in this house. To say she'd been surprised at the sight that greeted her was to understate matters considerably. In spite of her frequent absences from the house Paige wasn't completely oblivious to the household situation. The sight of her sister and brother-in-law curled up in bed together would have been enough of a shock. The image of her sister curled up with the wrong brother-in-law was almost more than Paige could take.

"How could they?" Paige spoke the question as though she actually expected an answer from her silent room. But even as she said it, she knew it lacked the vehemence it should have had. The sad reality was that she knew exactly how they could have. It was an uncomfortable understanding for her. And, she knew, probably the reason she had ignored what she now saw as a deafening clang of warning bells.

She'd watched it happen and had refused to admit, even to herself, that her senses weren't playing tricks on her. Perhaps it had been easier that way.

She'd seen Leo and Piper slowly fall apart. It was sad, but seeing both sides of it, had left her with little to say on the subject. Leo needed to follow his destiny, to be the force of good that he had been destined to be for so many years. And as much as he loved Piper, he had grown resentful and withdrawn at her lack of understanding of that need. Eventually, he had simply given up trying to serve two masters. Paige knew that Piper hadn't tried to drive him away though. Her destiny had cost her so many things she valued in life. Her friends, her sister, her chance for children. She'd desperately needed a husband. And a guardian angel just hadn't filled that need.

Paige exhaled noisily.

Phoebe and Cole were perhaps less dramatic, but no less sad. She knew about Phoebe's affair. It would have been impossible not to know. She didn't come home many nights, didn't bother to attempt any kind of excuses, and no one had bothered to ask.

Paige didn't believe that it was really that she wanted to hurt Cole. It was more that she wanted to feel she had a life, before she lost it to the danger that filled their lives. And Cole? Paige had initially been very uncomfortable when she learned what he was. Then she had felt a certain kinship with him. He had given up the only life he had ever known for an existence that was often foreign to him. She'd even felt a sort of sad admiration for him as she'd watched him swallow his pride to hold on to that new life.

Rising to pace the room restlessly, Paige recognized that she was right back where she had begun. Back to Piper and Cole. Searching herself for the anger she thought she should feel and finding only a melancholy sense of sympathy. She understood. In truth, she'd played her part in allowing it to happen. But the worst of it was that she was feeling guilty about not feeling guilty about that part.

Knowing what was happening to them all, she'd ignored a very natural possible consequence. She'd been aware of how much time the two of them spent together. Known that, of the four, those two were probably the most lost, the most emotionally needy. Paige was forced to acknowledge that the only reason she'd been unaware of how close Cole and Piper had become was because she hadn't wanted to know.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway broke her reverie. It was a sound that would now forever call to mind the picture of Cole slipping quietly back to his room in the early morning hours. Paige pasted a smile on her face as she prepared to join her sister.

There would be plenty of opportunity to deal with the fall out from this another day. There hadn't been enough time to stop them; it had been too late. And Paige's truth was that she wasn't sure she would have tried even if she had known.


	4. Part 4 No One to Blame

**Part 4 – No One to Blame**

_Rage would be easier_. Leo anchored his mind to that thought in the sea of confusion and pain that threatened to engulf him. Pressing himself deeper into the shadows, he struggled to free the vise around his heart and silently willed his lungs to work once more. His fisted hands clenched spasmodically as he watched the laughing couple across the club.

To the casual observer there was nothing remarkable about the scene Leo was watching. Just a man and a woman decorating for a New Year's Eve party. The part of him that refused to grasp rage could hear his mind desperately arguing that all was as innocent as it appeared to be. But his heart sickened with the truth. Piper and Cole were lovers.

He hadn't orbed in to find them locked in a passionate embrace or tearing their clothes off like over-eager teenagers. They hadn't so much as kissed logic stubbornly reminded him. But his brain could insist on all the evidence it wished; his heart, his very soul sensed the unseen and the unspoken.

It rang in the laughter that mocked his presence. It sang in each little quip they exchanged. The leisurely slide of Cole's hands from waist to hip as he'd lifted her from the ladder screamed of an easy intimacy. Piper's fingers brushing glitter from dark curls spoke tenderness at a deafening volume. Each time their eyes met the electricity arced and sparked, entwining, creating an almost visible cord of fire between the two. No, Leo didn't need to see an embrace. Their passion was a living, breathing entity, visible without sight, feeling without touch. Beyond word or reason, it simply was.

"How could they?" The ragged question had squeezed past the lump lodged in his throat and found voice before Leo could stop it. He glanced sharply toward the couple across the room to be certain he hadn't been heard. For even as the question had escaped him, another question had sprang to life within him. How could they not? And he was unprepared to face Cole and Piper with his questions until he had sought answers within himself.

"Cole, we're finished with the streamers. Could you put that box in the office please?"

Leo's turmoil was replaced with a sense of urgency as he watched Cole head for the box in question. He had to get out of here. But where to go? He wasn't ready to go back 'up there'. And it was with a blinding, if belated clarity that he realized Paige had known. That's why she hadn't thought it was a good idea for Leo to go to the club. And that meant the manor wasn't a good choice either. He needed to think, to calm the tempest swirling within him and he could think of only one place that would give him the solitude to do so.

The Bay breeze tousled Leo's hair as he materialized from the glow of blue and white orbs at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Here, where he communed with the Elders, where he meditated, here he could think without being observed or disturbed. It was a good choice. Already, the peace he associated with this spot was relaxing the grip that shock and pain held on his heart. His lungs loosened, allowing him to draw a deep cleansing breath. The first since his realization. The brisk December air had already begun to clear the emotional cobwebs that had clouded his thoughts at P3.

Standing quietly in the late afternoon sun, Leo realized that his calming was a direct result of the man surrendering control of the situation to the White Lighter in him, that part of himself that had led him to eventually become an Elder. And that it was the very existence of this dichotomy within him that held at least a part of the answers he sought.

Leo Wyatt the man wanted to shout, to rail against the fates, to smash that demon's face in for daring to take what was his. But Leo Wyatt the Elder had deeper thoughts. The biting sense of loss and bitter cut of betrayal were understandable. They could not however be completely justified to his more reasoning nature. And it was that more reasoning nature that spoke to him in the stillness.

It had largely been guilt that had drawn him to visit the manor today. He had not been needed due to demonic activity for some time now and hadn't even put in an appearance at Christmas. Even though he knew what holidays meant to Piper. It was certainly no secret that things had been bitterly strained between them long before his ascension to Elder. In an effort to avoid what seemed to be inevitable conflict between them, Leo had to acknowledge that he had often deliberately absented himself. And since his ascension, their relationship had gone from strained and distant to non-existent. Could what they had even legitimately be called a marriage any longer?

They had been warned in the very beginning that their love was impossible and forbidden. And the outcome made those warnings seem more than sensible in hindsight. Their needs were simply too often in opposition, slowly tearing them apart, turning a fairytale love into a daily nightmare. His pain might be reasonable; but was it right that he ask Piper to live without love because they had made a mistake? They had both charged in, foolish children prepared to fight the world, to be beaten down by the effort. And the innate injustice of continuing to suffer in the face of that reality washed over Leo with a shudder.

"But the demon?" Leo let the wind take his bitter question.

"No, not the demon; Cole," his more reasonable nature corrected. He had no control over what he was by birth. But he had done far too much for all of them to be relegated to 'the demon' to salve Leo's wounded pride. Even though he hadn't been around recently Leo was aware that things hadn't worked out between Cole and Phoebe. He wasn't sure how closely they had examined the failure, if at all. In Leo's mind it was a striking parallel of his and Piper's failure. Determined children rushing into love without heed to the consequences.

"Cole and I behaving like stubborn children at our ages," Leo snorted, "It would be almost amusing if the result wasn't so damning."

Leo shivered slightly. It wasn't the wind, but the questions he was being forced to face that chilled him. Did he believe that this was some kind of rebound relationship? _No._ As much as a part of him wanted to believe that was the case, honesty wouldn't allow him even that small comfort. They weren't second choices to one another, merely the right choice delayed by mistakes that came before. Of the two questions Leo had asked himself at the club, it was the second that bore answering. How could they not? How could the woman who always craved normalcy and support to balance her life not be drawn to the man who had given up everything he had ever known to embrace those very things?

And was Leo himself willing to try and give those things to Piper? Was Phoebe interested in having those things with Cole? Leo bowed his head sadly. The answer to both those questions was no. They had tried that already. Tried and failed.

As the sun began to set, Leo remained silent and still. Closing his eyes and releasing the turmoil within himself he allowed the natural sense of loss to wash through him. He supposed that the Power of Three would survive this. Paige had already seemed almost protective of the couple. And while no one could predict what Phoebe would do, she had depths that had frequently surprised them all in the past. This left only the question of what he would do now and that answer came much easier than he would have expected.

The manor was silent and dark except for the blue and white lights that briefly lit Piper's bedroom. Everyone was out. Leo assumed they were at P3 and that was as he wanted it. This wasn't about confrontation. He glanced at the object he held one final time. Certain that Piper would understand this for what it was, Leo moved quickly toward the neatly made bed.

His eyes briefly registered the small traces of Cole as he went. Confirming that he had come to the only decision possible. When he reached the side of the bed he solemnly uncoiled the object he carried and removed a blade from his robes. A single slash neatly cut the silken strands of the cord and Leo laid the pieces reverently in the center of the bed.

Leo glanced one last time at the cord that had bound them in marriage at their wedding, as it lay silently severed, breaking the union it once sealed. "Be happy Piper," he whispered to the darkness.

And as he orbed away Leo knew that rage would be easier. But what would be the point, there was no one to blame.


End file.
